London Marathon Report

A big congratulations to all the Harriers who took part in last weekend's London Marathon. Some great achievements on the day, including 3 sub 3 hour performances. First home for the club was Matt Ellis, who ran a consistent pace to finish in a time of 2.51.25 - knocking 4 minutes off his time from Paris last year. Next home was John Collier, who pre race was planning for a crack at sub 2.30. All seemed to be going to plan with the first half reached in 1.15.47, but a stress fracture to his shin caused him to slow right down - amazingly he still finished in a time of 2.52.04.

First lady home was Emma D'Alton, who ran her first sub 3 hour marathon, finishing in a time of 2.56.54. This was an improvement of some 13 minutes, on her time from Edinburgh last year. Next home Colin Johnson, who got agonisingly close to the 3 hour mark, unfortunately tiring in the final few miles finishing in 3.04.39. Hamid Khan was very close behind in 3.06.19 and Graham Clark just sneaked in under 3.10 - 3.09.39. Congrats to all the men who have earned GFA entries into next year's event!

Edd Gould ran an excellent marathon finishing in 3.15.38, Tim Synge ran 3.26.56, Nick Marshall 3.43.02 and Aidan Naughton 3.55.54. Next home was Gill Jones, just outside of 4 hours, running 4.01.03. Laura Tanna ran 4.06.42, with Jane Goodwin close behind in 4.17.37, Simon Gardiner in 4.22.05, Jane Thornton in 4.22.45, Robert Hawkins in 4.36.46 and Lizzy Meadows in 4.54.15.

Well done to you all!

Anthony on the road to recovery - no bull!

After several months suffering from IT band problems, Anthony Glover appears to be heading back towards his best form. The Horton Spring Bull is a 4 mile romp around several hilly points surrounding the village of Horton, but Anthony made light work of it, winning the race in a time of 24.42. Jon Goodland showed no ill effects from his recent jaunt across the Sahara in the Marathon des Sables, finishing 2nd in 25.15. Full results here.

Bridge Inn 5k

The Bridge Inn returned for its summer series, with Allister Sheffield once again prevailing in a time of 15.46. This time he was given a run for his money by the University's David Green who finished just a second behind him. Bristol & West's Phil Parry was third in 16.00 dead. In the ladies race, our own Debbie Marsden had a humdinger of a battle with Severn's Johanna Fletcher, with Marsden prevailing in a new PB of 17.34, 2 seconds ahead of Fletcher, who is preparing for next week's Prague Marathon.

Meanwhile for the Harriers, Gregg Ward showed he continues to run well, with 10th place in 16.59, Anthony Glover, returning from injury, ran 17.07. The 14 yr old Kane Lee ran a new PB of 17.10 and we look forward to his continued improvement over the summer months. Talking of improvement, Malc White ducked under 18 minutes with 17.57, Bob Pringle in 18.28 and Alex Miller in 18.35 - all running well! Tony Jefferies finished 2nd V60 in 20.03, Roger Long ran 23.31 and Richard Hughes 24.06

Great running all!

Stratford Half

A bit of a trek from Bristol, but it didn't stop two Harriers taking part in the annual Shakespeare 1/2 marathon. Rich Collinson continued his return to form with a 1.18.42 for 6th place, whilst David Taylor ran 2.02.27. Well done guys! The race itself was won by Coventry Godiva's James Griggs in 1.13.43, with Kenilworth's Phil Gould second in 1.16.54. Full results are here.

London Marathon this weekend!

Well I can hardly believe it, but this weekend the big event is finally upon us! The Harriers have a fair few runners in the event and potentially 6 sub 3hrs (that I am aware of!) So good luck to John Collier, Rod Jones, Matt Ellis, John Terry, Emma D'Alton, Colin Johnson, Graham Clark, Tim Synge, Edd Gould, Hamid Khan, Aidan Naughton, Laura Tanna, Jane Thornton and Rob Hawkins! There may well be others - so good luck to you too, I'll find out your results after the race!